This invention relates generally to the purification of urokinase from crude preparations thereof and, more particularly, to the separation and purification of two active forms of urokinase from such crude preparations by affinity chromatography.
Urokinase is a known enzyme present in low concentrations in mammalian urine, and which catalyzes the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin, the latter being an enzyme which is capable of lysing fibrin clots. Urokinase has been shown to have therapeutic value which injected in humans as an effective thrombolytic agent for dissolving blood clots.
A number of procedures are known in the art for treating urine so as to obtain therefrom more highly concentrated urokinase preparations. Such procedures generally involve the use of various adsorbents such as, for example, bentonite, barium sulphate, DEAE-cellulose, phosphorylated cellulose, silicic acid, benzoic acid, and the like. The partially purified urokinase preparations obtained from these prior art procedures still contain a high content of impurities and hence leave much to be desired.